Hades' Daughter

No More Hell than Earth

"You know what? Let me have a good sleep and when I wake up, I may consider helping you." My words couldn't have been more courteous after him disrupting my sleep.

"Pleaseee. Dear almighty goddess you're here for a reason. The sooner we finish this the sooner we get to leave. I don't get why dad sent us here though. Never mind lets hurry I wanna get out of this creepy place asap." Does he always talk that much...

"Nope." He said, popping the 'p'. "It's only to annoy you." Damn it WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT HIM READING MY MIND.

"Don't scream. That was loud." He rubbed his temples. So it DOES have an impact on him. Hmm... We really should stop wasting time though. I hate to agree but he was right.

"Scroll."

"What? Ohh." Blinking idiot. "Hey I heard that." I ignored him.

I also realised we can be here for days, if not weeks. I inspected the scroll for hidden clues. Nothing. Zilch. Looking at Zephir, and judging by his mental capabilities, we should give up now.

"Hey how about we walk around?" he suggested. I got up and dusted the cream coloured flowers that fell from the tree off me. We walked silently around the garden but got to the place where we first started. Until I realise...

"Wait. Don't move." He paused in his footsteps. "If I'm not wrong, this garden is a maze. A magical one. The paths will change as we walk so that we will never reach the centre."

"How did you know about this?" I fought the urge to spill everything. My childhood, my home.

"Goddess instincts. Back away from the track and climb that." I nodded my head to the tree with leaves burning gold and copper. Surprisingly, he didn't question it. Effortlessly, he climbed to the top and peered down.

"Holy Skye, you're right." He gaped at me like I'm the psychic one. "And this place is HUGE. There's the track that we've been walking for ages, and look at the traps in the maze! Wow those vines and dead ends..." He spoke like everything interested him and this was an adventure rather than a quest.

"What's in the center?" I was too far away to look.

"I don't know. It's black." Black? Black things here usually mean trouble. I didn't want to scare him, but anything could be in there. Creatures, traps, darkness, or a bottomless pit. He pointed to the center and confidently said "that's where we need to go." He must be kidding. I spent most of my childhood here and never have I ventured there. And I'm not planning to.

"You can't back out now. Why? Are you scared?" That annoying prick was back. I couldn't bring myself to show him he was right.

"No. It's just that..."

"...just that?"

"I would rather kill you myself than watch you get torn apart by a creature." Silence.

"Me too." He grinned. What an idiot.

Swiftly, he jumped from tree to tree and when he noticed I didn't move, he motioned for me to follow his lead. Sighing, I started climbing too, but can't ignore the tug at my heart that we shouldn't go there. Don't you think it's a little too easy?

---

"That's it, I'm not trusting you again." He grunted in response. This time, even he knew there was no getting out of this. I surveyed the surroundings. Darkness, more darkness. Even though I could see in the dark, it was only provided that there was something to see. The emptiness of this pit is astounding.

"Can you light up this place?"

"What, the dark witch is a little scared of darkness?"

"Do it."

"I can't"

"Why not?"

"My powers... can't work here." I tried my own. Nothing. What? Did our powers get knocked out of us after dropping down into this bottomless pit? 

"No, silly. This place is power proof. Magic proof, in fact." Then how come he can still read my thoughts?And I can see him.

"It's my nature to read people's minds. Not a power." I see. How long have we been in here?

"No idea. But every minute of being with you feels like eternity." Jerk. A loud thud, an 'OUCH' from Zephir, came from below, followed by the unmistakable voice. 

"Hello, Skye and friend. We've been expecting you." Her. "How long has it been, Skye? A hundred years? Maybe more. And who's this cute guy over here?" She flashed her million-watt smile as she ruffled his hair.

"I'm Zephir, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Her sweet voice laced with a tinge of resentment... And I know it was directed to me. "I'm Greta, keeper of this garden. Beautiful, isn't it? It wasn't like this when I first got here, just had to get rid of some pests..." Her gaze wandered off to me. 

It was not always like that. We were once best friends. Hell, she was once my only friend. You could guess that I did not have any friends after her. Not after what she did to me.

-flashback-

[A/N] Hey guys ik it's been more than awhile... so here it is. Sry to disappoint but I've been running out of ideas. Thinking of removing this story completely or leaving it uncompleted. Hope I'll get some inspiration!